NEW YORK – The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury did not intervene in foreign exchange markets during the April – June 2019 quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said today in its quarterly report to the U.S. Congress.
The U.S. dollar, as measured by the Federal Reserve Board’s broad trade-weighted dollar index, depreciated 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2019 amid multiple cross-currents. The main factor weighing on the dollar over the quarter was a decline in market expectations for the future path of the target range for the federal funds rate. However, the dollar was supported by continued economic growth in the United States, uncertainty stemming from trade tensions, and a shift in market expectations toward increased monetary policy accommodation from central banks in some advanced and emerging economies. Among major currencies, the dollar depreciated 2.7 percent against the Japanese yen, 1.9 percent against the Canadian dollar, and 1.4 percent against the euro. By contrast, the dollar appreciated 2.7 percent against the British pound and 2.3 percent against the onshore Chinese renminbi.
The report was presented by Lorie Logan, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Open Market Committee’s manager pro tem for the System Open Market Account, on behalf of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System.
The full report is available on the New York Fed’s website.
